AIDS Prevention Training Program

Junior-Senior High School 10th-grade students and social worker Kristen Mednick ventured to North Shore University Hospital to attend its Peer AIDS Education and Prevention Training Program. The purpose of the Peer AIDS Training Program is to educate high school students about HIV/AIDS and to provide training in how to communicate information on prevention to their peers.

Nearly 100 high school students from six different districts participated in the training, which included attending workshops on HIV/AIDS and STD prevention, cultural issues, sexuality and relationships, drug and alcohol trends, good decision-making, and many other aspects of teen health.

Upon completion of the training, students became Certified Peer AIDS Educators, which recognizes them as leaders in the education and prevention of HIV/AIDS. The newly certified Peer AIDS Educators will meet with their previously certified counterparts to prepare age-appropriate HIV/AIDS lessons, which will be presented to the district’s fifth- and sixth-grader students.